For the first time since 1992, the Pittsburgh Pirates are in MLB's postseason. The Bucs clinched at least a spot in the wild-card game after a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs that ended with a bizarre play at the plate, and a 4-3 loss by the Washington Nationals to the St. Louis Cardinals. The loss eliminated the Nats from contention.

The Cincinnati Reds are playoff-bound as well, after beating the New York Mets, 3-2 in 10 innings. The focus over the regular season's final six days now shifts to the NL Central race, which the Cards still lead by two games over the Pirates and Reds.

Lost in the NL happenings Monday: The Detroit Tigers were unable to clinch a playoff berth in the American League. They lost, 4-3 in 11 innings, to the Twins in Minnesota.

NL WILD CARD/NL CENTRAL

Pirates 2, Cubs 1:Pittsburgh secured what turned out to be a clinching victory in dramatic fashion. Center fielder Andrew McCutchen picked up Ryan Sweeney's bloop single after the ball hit off right fielder Marlon Byrd's glove and threw to first baseman Justin Morneau, positioned just in front of home plate. Morneau made the relay to catcher Russell Martin, who applied the tag on Nate Schierholtz, who had tried to score from first base. Still on his knees, Martin held the ball over his head in jubilation.

Reds 3, Mets 2 (10 innings): Shin-Soo Choo drove in the winning run with a single off the wall in the 10th, and the Reds secured their third playoff spot in four years shortly after. Unlike the Pirates, the playoff-seasoned Reds had no champagne, and did little celebrating at all. Their minds are fixed on the division race.

Cardinals 4, Nationals 3: Carlos Beltran homered and Adam Wainwright earned his 18th win. Looking for their first NL Central title since 2009, the Cardinals reduced their magic number to four. St. Louis secured no worse than a wild card on Sunday. The Nationals won the NL East last season with 98 wins but were eliminated by St. Louis in the division series. One year later, they were knocked out by the Cardinals again.

AL WILD CARD

Rays 5, Orioles 4: Wil Myers tied the game with a two-run single in the seventh inning, then pinch hitter James Loney stunned the Orioles with a leadoff homer in the ninth, and the Rays completed a four-game sweep that put a serious damper on Baltimore's wild-card hopes. Worse for the Orioles, All-Star third baseman Manny Machado suffered what appeared to be a serious leg injury in the top of the seventh. Machado's left leg buckled when he stepped on first base running out an infield single. He was taken off on a stretcher. Baltimore manager Buck Showalter had no immediate update on Machado's injury as the team awaited test results. Machado will undergo an MRI exam on Tuesday.

Rangers 12, Astros 0: Alex Rios hit for the cycle, Derek Holland struck out nine in his second shutout of the season and Texas started its final push for a playoff spot. The Rangers pulled within a game of idle Cleveland for the second AL wild-card berth with six games remaining. The first cycle of Rios' career was the seventh in Rangers' history. Adrian Beltre was the last to do it, last Aug. 24 against Seattle.

Royals 6, Mariners 5 (12 innings):Salvador Perez delivered a go-ahead RBI double in the top of the 12th to move KC three games behind the Cleveland Indians for the second wild-card berth. Seattle tied the game in the eighth on back-to-back home runs by Franklin Gutierrez and Michael Saunders.

Cleveland and the New York Yankees were off Monday. The Yankees begin a home series against the Rays on Tuesday.